Floor covering



. June 17, 1941.

F. L. MCENANY FLOOR COVERING Filed Jan. 14, 1938 Frederic/c Zes/er/W-CfnanIm/ENTOR.

' ATTORNEY.

Patented June 17,1941

FLOOR COVERING Frederick L. McEnany, Bridgeport, Conn., assignor to E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Wilming-ton, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application January 14, 1938, Serial No. 185,039

1 Claim.

rial simultaneously provides a resilient and wear resistant floor covering.

'I'here is an increasing demand for the conversion of cellar. rooms in residences to livable rooms, due to the improved heating methods inuse today. Many new homes are so constructed that the cellar is readily adapted to serve as a recreation room or extra living room. In older residences, however, the installation of improved heating equipmentI results in the waste of cellar space because the iioors are often damp and moist and the room is, therefore, unsuitable for use.

It is an object of this invention to `provide a novel composite sheet material. It is a further object to provide a floor covering which is damp proof, resilient and wearresistant. jects will appear hereinafter.

-These objects have been accomplished by constructing a composite sheet material having a metal layer, an intermediate resilient layer, and a top layer of Wear resistant material. These three layers may be the only layers present, and may adhere to each other in the order named; or additional layers of material maybe added; or one or more the three named layers may consist of more than one sublayer.

In the-accompanying drawing.'

l Fig. 1. is a perspective view of a portion of a room the floor of which is covered with the novel composite sheet material.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one form of the novel composite sheet material the end of 'which 'is shownl in section.

Figs. 3 to 10 are sections of modifications of the composite sheet material according to the invention.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, a preferred embodiment thereof will A layer of sponge rubber about 1A inch in thickness is prepared in known manner. -Sponge rubber is of a cellular structure as the name implies and possesses excellent resilient characteristics. It may be prepared. in a manner described by P. Kohler in Kautschuk, vol. 11, pages 46 to 48 and 69 (1935); or by any of the patented processes as, for example, by theprocess of U. S. Patent No. 1,877,527, issued September 13, 1932.

The layer of sponge'rubber is then cemented to the fabric of the wear resistant layer in the following manner.

There is spread upon the sponge rubber surface an adhesive cement of the following composition:

Parts by weight Crepe rubber l Burgundy pitch 10 Rosin-- 10 Whiting Q 30 Gasoline-- then the two sheets are placed in contact with their adhesive coated surfaces together. A sheet of copper about .O04 inch thick and weighing about one ounce per sq. ft. is cemented tothe remaining exposed side of the sponge rubber in the same manner as just described. The composite sheet material in this example is made of strips 54 inches in width and the copper layer combinedr with the other layers in such manner that it extends three inch-es beyond the edge of the upper layers on one side and three inches short of the edge of the upper layers on the other side.

In applying the composite sheet material of the invention to a cellar floor or the like, the oor is first dried as thoroughly as possible and a lm of adhesive composition such, for example, as that above stated is applied to the floor and a lm of the same adhesive is applied to the copper surface of the composite sheet material. When the solvent of the adhesive has evaporated until the proper tackiness has been attained, the sheet material is laid upon the floor and pressed firmly in place. Seams are formed by the offset edges being applied one over the other and adhesively secured in the same mann-er. It has been found preferable to bend the lsheet; material and adhere it to the side wall for a short distance above the i'loor, depending upon existing conditions.

In this manner, the damp proofing of the cellar L may be made more effective. The sheetmaterial produced as described is flexible to a remarkable degree and can be bent, folded and worked with ease.

Figure 1 of the drawing shows a corner of a room, the floor of which has been covered with a composite sheet material such as above described. In this Ifigure, 8 is a brick wall and 9 is a cement fioor. It is to be understood, however, that the floor may be of wood or other structural material. Eleven is the solid rubber tread and I3 is the fabric to which it is vulcanized. Eleven and I3 together form the wear resistant tread layer. Sponge rubber resilient layer 5 is attached to fabric I3 by cement I4, and is attached to waterproof copper layer I0 by cement I6. The waterproof copper layeris attached to the floor 8 and side walls 0 by means of cement 1, the composite sheet material being bent at right angles to extend upward along the walls as shown.

Fig. 2 shows a portion of a strip of the composite sheet material with the metal waterproof layer offset from the other layers for the purpose of forming a seam as has been described above. It is evident that changes may be made in the composition of the various layers and that additional layers of material may also be added without departing from the spirit of the invention.

lWhile copper is preferred for the waterproong layer, other non-rusting metals such as aluminum, tin, zinc, and brass may be used.

Infact any wear resistant tread material known,` in the art may be used for this layer. Where a bond between rubber and another material is to be made, this may be accomplished by vulcanizing the rubber to said other material or by the use of a suitable cement. While the specific example has disclosed the composite sheet material cemented to the floor, it will be satisfactory in some instances to lay the sheet material upon the floor without cementing it thereto. Instead,r

of forming a seam by offset edges as disclosed| in the specific example, the edges of the strips of composite sheet material may be flush and the seam may be formed by cementing,soldering, welding or otherwise securing a narrow strip of metal over the abutting edges of the waterproof 'sheet of metal.

In order that the invention may be better understood, Figs. 3 to l0 have been included to illustrate several modifications of the invention.

In Fig. 3, the solid rubber tread layer 3| is vulcanized to fabric layer 33 and sponge lrubber resilient layer 35 is vulcanized to fabric layer 33. Waterproof metal layer 30 is cemented to sponge rubber layer 35 by cement 38.. i

In Fig. 4, solid rubber tread layer 4| is attached to fabric layer 43 by means of cement 42. Sponge rubber layer 45 is vulcanized to fabric layer 43, and waterproof metal layer v40 is cemented to sponge rubber layer 45 by means of cement 40.

In Fig. 5, the solid rubber layer 5|, fabric layer 5I. sponge rubber layer 55 and waterproof metal layer 59 are cemented together in' the order named by cement layers 52, 54, and 50.

Fig. 6 shows a wear resistant tread layer of linoleum 6| attached to resilient layer 65 bymeans of cement 62 and waterproof metal layer 00 at` tached toresilient layer 85 by means of cement 06.

Fig.V '1 shows resistant tread layers of linoleum 1| attached to resilient layer-15 by means of cement layer 12. A layer of craft paperA 11 attached to resilient layer 15 by means of cement layer 'I6 and waterproof metal layerA 19 attached to craft paper 11 by means of sisal fibre cement 18.

In Fig. 8, carpet layer 8| is attached to resilient layer 85 by means of cement 82 and the resilient layer is in turn attached to waterproof layer 88 by means of cement 86.

Fig. 9 shows resilient sponge rubber layer 95 vulcanized to carpet layer 8| and attached to waterproof metal layer 08 by cement 96.

. Fig. 10 shows solid rubber tread layer |0| -and resilient Vsponge rubber layer |05 vulcanized to opposite sides of cloth layer |03.

OtherV modifications of the inventio'n will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. l

The cement used in attaching the various layers to each other may be that disclosed above in the detailed specific example, it may consist of the ingredients of the detailed specific examples compounded in other proportions than those therein disclosed, or any other suitable cement or adhesive may be used, such, for example, as marine glue, asphalt, adhesive prepared from cellulose derivatives and the like.

AIt is sometimes desirable to use an intermediate layer of paper between the metal layer and the resilient layer to improve adhesion between such layers. While any layer of paper may be used, it has been found especially desirable to use for this purpose a paper-'metal combination which is obtained commercially under the name Copper Armored Sisal Craft.

It is not intended to limit the invention by the dimensions of any or all of the layers to those recited in the detailed specific example. The

metal layer'may vary from a thin foil of .001

inch or more in thickness to a sheet of .100 inch -or more in thickness, but it has been found that a thickness of .004 inch is most satisfactory from the standpoint of economy, flexibility and protection against dampness. Likewise, the resilient layer which is preferably of sponge rubber may vary from .025 inch to one inch or more, although, in general, it has been -found that this layer should be at least .25 inch to obtain a desirable resilience. The tread surface layer may be of any thickness consistent with flexibility. While the finished sheet material may be of any width,

it has been found`that it is more easily handled in strips from 36 to 54 inches wide.

'me composite sheet material of this inventionV is of great usefulness in the conversion of damp cellar rooms to inhabitable rooms by being placed on the floor thereof as has been described. It is also suitable for application to all types of floor such as those in garages, workshops, cottages and the like. It provides a means for damp-proofing floors without the necessity of resorting to costly and laborious reconstruction and at the same time provides a oor covering which may be used without the laying of a separate tread material. 'I'he composite sheet material of this invention may also be used for heat and sound insulation,4

being folded and of being bent at right angles to continue the covering from the floor to the side walls, said strips comprisingl a tread layer of non-cellular rubber, a layer of fabric attached to said rubber layer, a bottom layer of thin copper foil, a sponge rubber layer which is of substantially greater thickness than the above mentioned other layers and which isl positioned between said fabric layer and layer of copper foil, and a layer of cement between said sponge rubber lay'er and said layer of copper foil.

FREDERICK L. MCENANY. 

